our wildly curious & wandering life

Menu

Category Archives: Weekend

If you see me this summer, chances are I’m wearing any one (or all) of these pieces. Like memories, I’ve picked ’em up along the way: second-hand boyfriend jeans from someone who didn’t want them anymore, chambray tank on sale, a black lace bralette I love so much I bought in multiple colors and a straw hat I found (really) at the general store. They’re all new, but feel so comfy and familiar. Denim is like that: soft and easily worn and yet, somehow, always fits great and looks even better.

I’m starting to feel like a real, traveling gypsy. Give me a tambourine and a pet goat and I will officially fit the bill.

I’ve been ping-ponging between College Station, Tishomingo and OKC for the last few weeks. Cory is traveling all over for safety trainings while I am taking the time to see friends and continuing to juggle freelance meetings, deadlines and design projects. I’m living out of a duffle bag and kind of all over the place but it’s fun and exciting and breath a fresh air. I get to live a little, write a little, design a little and learn a lot in the process.

The blog, thereby, has fallen to the wayside a little. And, man, I hate that. I want to spill my guts to you guys about all the “big life things” that are in the works for us right now, but I’ve learned over the years that really great things – like sunrises and sunsets and all the miracles – have to unfold quietly and in their own time. And I only need to be still and watch the magic happen…not everything in this world is dependent on my actions or interventions. In fact, hardly anything is.

So, in the meantime, I’m taking stock of what I’m up and what’s on my mind.

XO,

J.

Making: Oatmeal, topped with brown sugar, blueberries & raisins

Cooking: Does oatmeal count as cooking?

Drinking: Beer – the perfect beverage for summer activities

Reading: The One and Only by Emily Giffin

Wanting: Another sunny afternoon by the pool

Looking: Through design books. My favorite is the Letterhead & Logo Design series

Big city livin’ is not something I take for granted. I can find a place to eat any hour of the night (with drive-thrus!), we can partake in just about any form of entertainment imaginable, and we are just an hour’s drive from some of the coolest & happenin’-est cities for young people in the country, like Austin.

But when it comes to shopping, Southern Oklahoma is still my favorite spot. Local boutiques like the Lucky Rose, the Pink Pistol and Bliss are some of the most unique and impressively curated shops I’ve ever been to. Whenever I’m wearing pieces from any of those boutiques, I always get asked a million “Where’d ya get that?” questions…My finds range from funky to rare. Whenever I am in town, I go crazy shopping and browsing all my favorite places.

This weekend, I got to enjoy wine at the Lucky Rose Spring Fling event. It was an after-hours shopping extravaganza. The place was packed with ladies shopping, sharing, sipping and laughing. It felt so cool, so forward, so exciting to be a part of – as a guest and as a hired designer. Lisa Rose, the shop owner, is always pushing the envelope and blowing me away with new, fun and innovative ideas for her business and for Tishomingo, Oklahoma.

Evites I designed for the Lucky Rose’s Spring Fling event

Infinity scarf from Murray on Main in Tishomingo, OK

Midi rings and chambray top from Bliss Boutique in Durant, OK

The ultimate underdog, Teddy

When I wasn’t shopping, I was eating with my parents, watching movies with friends, golfing and attending baby showers. It was a great weekend.

If you made it to our wedding, chances are you participated in the late night search party for one intoxicated, missing guest: Colorado. His real name is Jonathan, & he became one of our best friends during our time in College Station, TX. Once a coworker of Cory’s, Jonathan is now living in his home state and attending Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

The three of us together is a little reminiscent of Ferris Buler’s Day Off. Just like in the movie, the boys are pretty unlikely friends: Jon grew up in Denver’s wealthy suburbia. Cory grew up in rural America. Jon’s dad is white collar, Cory’s dad is blue collar. Cory is calm & collected, Jon is more temperamental. Jon’s traveled the world, Cory has traveled to…Texas. But for all the ways they differ, they do have some things in common: both are insanely smart. Like, I-can’t-follow-thier-conversations smart. Both are mama’s boys (&, arguably, mama’s favorites). Both are extremely patient with my sassy nature.

Because we missed him so much, and needed a break, we flew out to CO for the weekend. We toured the campus, Coors brewery and went tubing in Winter Park.

I drank more beer this weekend than I probably have all year, and that’s still not much. I’ve hung out with girls who drink Natty Light & girls who love IPAs…I’m really not a beer drinker and under no circumstance pretend to be. But the tasting post-tour at Coors had me feeling adventurous. I tasted everything from the tried-and-true brews to recipes dating back to 1919.

We also got to visit with Jon’s new friends…One is a wealthy black man from Ghana and the other, a Kurdish muslim from Iran. They’re both students with Jon at CSM. Over beers, we all talked about how important travel is to us. But even more importantly, befriending people who are different from us, with different experiences and ways of thinking.

Michael, from Ghana, said it perfectly.

“People who do not travel…their view of the world is so microscopic. They’re the kind of people who believe everyone gets three square meals a day.”

Then Michael went into the story of his own birth. His mother, a fugitive for smuggling gold across borders, was fleeing from the police while heavily pregnant (a strategic move on her part, as leverage against harsher imprisonment). She hid on his grandfather’s farm, birthed Michael without assistance & proceeded to sever his umbilical cord with a machete.

Whoa. There’s a woman I’d like to meet.

Overall, the weekend was everything I needed. I saw new things, met new people and slid down a hill at 30 mph. Every time I visit the mountains, I begin mental justifications for quitting my job and blowing all my money on a life in the mountains. I could be an excellent ski bum. Who needs retirement savings, anyway?

You know that Cat Stevens song, the one about the Peace Train? It’s one of my favorites.

Now I’ve been happy lately
Thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be
Something good has begun

I haven’t put my finger on what has me in such a good mood. Maybe it’s this new faux fur vest, or our new friends, or the cooler weather. I’m excited to spend the holidays with my family & for what is to come in 2014. Lots of good energy floating around right now, & I hope you’re feelin’ it, too.

Life, Lately:

Cory had an emergency appendectomy & I had my wisdom teeth removed over the Thanksgiving holiday. I helped him into his pants & he made me bowls of ice cream. Marriage is the best medicine, y’all. Hyrodocodone isn’t bad, either.

I signed a contract for additional freelance work in 2014. Check out my work from 2013 here.

Cory’s photog skills are improving, ever so slightly. He shot the above pics & I edited in CS6 with some new actions I scored on Cyber Monday.

Mack, our precious bundle of drooling joy, turned 4 last week .

Sometimes I think I kind of want a real baby. Like, a human one. But then Mack shits in the floor & I take it back. But humor me, and yourself, with this Pinterest board curated by yours truly.

I was a guest on another blog, where I revealed my pants size. And talked about self-esteem & the language between women. You can read it here.

What have you been up to? Are you feeling good about the holiday season & the new year to come?

I was at a house party, playing foosball with a bunch a burly, bearded and beer-guzzling half-grown men when I got an odd and seemingly out-of-place tip. One guy, a dad of one, was cashing in some “guy time” at the party. I’m not sure how the conversation got started, I’m sure I asked about his daughter, and then ended up expressing that I wasn’t sure I wanted to have kids. I mention this tidbit often…as a sort of test to others and to myself. Is it a crazy notion to NOT have children? Is it unnatural? Do I really mean it? Saying something out loud forces you face the question, and often allows you to hear your heart’s answer.

But instead of my heart talking, I heard my friend.

“You want kids,” he said softly, assuredly. “They bring you a lot of joy.”

I didn’t “get it” then, but I think I’m starting to. Spending the weekend in Oklahoma with my nieces had me feeling lighter, in a way I didn’t realize I was missing. It wasn’t happiness I was feeling, but joy. A deeper, quieter, longer-lasting high that only comes from hours of kissing on baby rolls, jumping on a trampoline or playing audience to a little girl in dress up. Kids are silly and honest in ways adults can’t be, even when we try. But being around them is a pretty good consolation.

I don’t necessarily mean in a lesbihonest kind of way (although that’s cool, too). I mean in a idolizing, I-wanna-party-with-that-girl kind of way. Someone you look up to, admire and find totally badass. Do you have one?

I have a handful and they all share one, important thing in common: they give me permission to be more of myself. That’s the secret sauce of leadership: the ability to light the fire of authenticity in others.

I met one of my favorite girl crushes while attending Confluence Conference this weekend. Confluence is for bloggers and digital influencers. On Saturday, about 120 of OKC creatives spent the day nerding out over search engine optimization (SEO), personal branding, blog design and innovation. Kelly Beall of Design Crush told us how much she makes as a full-time blogger (HOLY SHIT!), Cooper House told us how not to totally suck at design and the hotty-hott-hott Royce Young validated our addiction to Twitter.

One of the best talks of the day was given by Kathleen Shannon of Braid Creative, one of my ultimate girl crushes. Kathleen spoke on being your brand, and the overlap of personal and professional. She was gracious enough to chat with me about publications, getting drunk with coworkers and growing dreadlocks. She was incredibly sweet and even posed with me for a crazy cool pic in front of the Lyric Theatre sign.